tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post4506020388555430449..comments2024-03-29T10:51:27.752+13:00Comments on Not PC: NOT PC's voting guide for tomorrow:Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-48995926566749156922008-11-08T11:00:00.000+13:002008-11-08T11:00:00.000+13:00sean, what about a repeal of the anti-smacking act...sean, what about a repeal of the anti-smacking act? I know, the libz always redefine the goal posts, and it's never enough (we can agree on that), but claiming they're the only party who wishes to see less government is not fact.Berend de Boerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11433622686361556089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-55271596265694696162008-11-08T08:07:00.000+13:002008-11-08T08:07:00.000+13:00BerendSir Roger Douglas stated publically that ACT...Berend<BR/><BR/>Sir Roger Douglas stated publically that ACT would limit the rate at which government grows to that of inflation and population increase. In other words he confirms that ACT would not shrink government, merely reduce its growth rate. Therefore PC's statement is correct. <BR/><BR/>Restated, it is ACT's policy to reduce the rate of government growth, not to shrink the actual size of government. <BR/><BR/>LGMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-47438372473292942392008-11-07T21:55:00.000+13:002008-11-07T21:55:00.000+13:00Bernard, if you think shrinking government to the ...Bernard, if you think shrinking government to the bloated size of Australia - which hands money to people just for having kids - then you don't know what limiting government is.<BR/><BR/>I know I tolerate more indiscretions than PC, but 3 years in the UK has seen me surrounded by politicians who always have more government as the solution. Of course if NZ gets a Nat/ACT government, then all those who voted for it can no longer complain when the state grows.Libertyscotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12741049550997300680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-60754232591095881802008-11-07T20:00:00.000+13:002008-11-07T20:00:00.000+13:00BB,I'll ask you the same question that I have aske...BB,<BR/><BR/>I'll ask you the same question that I have asked all the act party supporters (so far all have failed to answer);<BR/><BR/>Can you please name a current Act policy that would signficantly increase freedom and property rights?Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10510709497077490801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-79489376905010856022008-11-07T18:41:00.000+13:002008-11-07T18:41:00.000+13:00PC: But they don't want to shrink government, Dani...PC: <I>But they don't want to shrink government, Daniel, they just want to limit the rate at which it continues to grow.</I><BR/><BR/>That's simply a false statement. Capping the growth of government at the rate of inflation would be a policy that every party, including the collectivits, would have to live with. It's just setting a permanent boundary on goverment growth, even when you're not in power. I.e. like a constitution.<BR/><BR/>Saying that ACT doesn't want to limit government is a lie, and you know it. ACT certainly wants to have less government, and this policy is a good start. Even if you limit government to this growth, it would diminish relative to non-government, as a percentage of GDP, if the economy grows.<BR/><BR/>So whatever way you look at it, it doesn't do what you say it does.<BR/><BR/>But who would have expected trustworhty analysis from the Libz?Berend de Boerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11433622686361556089noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-6894520477651260922008-11-07T17:05:00.000+13:002008-11-07T17:05:00.000+13:00Moron BlairTry reading what he wrote. Try very ha...Moron Blair<BR/><BR/>Try reading what he wrote. Try very hard to understand what his qualifiers were. Try very hard to understand the context. You really are a worthless, useless bit of refuse! People have noticed. They reckon you smell odd. <BR/><BR/>LGMAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-28268325911125863092008-11-07T16:12:00.000+13:002008-11-07T16:12:00.000+13:00Nothing betrays your bigotry more Peter than a sug...Nothing betrays your bigotry more Peter than a suggestion that one should vote for anti-smacker Pansy Wong in Botany over someone who wants to give parents back the right to discipline their children.<BR/><BR/>And you endorse Taito Phillip Field, whose pamplets explicitly state that he wants to ban abortion?!!!<BR/><BR/>You FAIL, Peter. If that's the best you can do, then you deserve to live under the harshest of Nanny States for the rest of your life. Me myself, I'm actually doing things to ease the burden.Blairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02865567065778234500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-50132643329407094732008-11-07T14:34:00.000+13:002008-11-07T14:34:00.000+13:00Nice to see both PC and Scott agree on Katrina Sha...Nice to see both PC and Scott agree on Katrina Shanks for the Ohariu seat. Since my own candidacy for that seat was knobbled by red tape I am happy to endorse her. She has been very supportive of me / us and complimentary about our press releases. She strikes me as being very much on the more Lib end of the Nats and will be an ally on many issues in the future.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-67326022499747013092008-11-07T13:27:00.001+13:002008-11-07T13:27:00.001+13:00I have looked Rodney Hide up and down, asked the q...I have looked Rodney Hide up and down, asked the question "Can this chap make a difference" ...and concluded 'no'.<BR/><BR/>When Key said Sir Roger Douglas would not enter Cabinet. Case closed. End of...I expected Hide to jump up and say "ummmmm, hang on a minute sunshine..." but no, as usual the ACT chaps are not 'serious', will compromise on everything and, frankly, have no balls.<BR/><BR/>If Rodney will betray his friends it logically follows he will also betray his causes.<BR/><BR/>To put it another way, I doubt the Workers Party would accept Helen refusing to have Karl Marx in Cabinet...(but then the Workers Party are honest, unlike ACT)Elijah Lineberryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12626477239489811223noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-89791246576138872232008-11-07T13:27:00.000+13:002008-11-07T13:27:00.000+13:00Mikee,That is a resonable position. However, Act s...Mikee,<BR/><BR/>That is a resonable position. However, Act simply aren't up to your very reasonable standard, this time around. They do not have a single policy that will significantly enhance freedom and property rights in New Zealand.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-32155320647510900812008-11-07T13:16:00.000+13:002008-11-07T13:16:00.000+13:00Peter, Quite frankly, as a libertarian, your sugge...Peter, <BR/><BR/>Quite frankly, as a libertarian, your suggestions of voting against ACT in Botany and Epsom are fucking stupid. While ACT might not be a pure objectivist, we need Ayn Rand to define art for us party, its as close as you are going to get to ACTUAL CHANGES in policy rather than just whining about it from the sidelines. <BR/><BR/>The thing is. <BR/><BR/>Sometimes I think, the libertarians, whom I agree with word for word when it comes to policy, don't actually want to see these changes happen. Because if they did - they'd have nothing to whine about. <BR/><BR/>Any libertarian should be thinking of one thing and one thing only. Can this person make a difference, and is this difference likely to increase or decrease the level of individual freedom in New Zealand. If its likley to increase the freedom, they should get your vote - regardless of their party. <BR/><BR/>That is, if you as a libertarian actually care about freedom in reality.deletedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03002415274366842312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-14357343966553001792008-11-07T13:13:00.000+13:002008-11-07T13:13:00.000+13:00You're much more appeasing than I am, Scott. They...You're much more appeasing than I am, Scott. They'd have to do both much more and much less than that to impress me.<BR/><BR/>'Much less' means that all the have to do is actually have policies <A HREF="http://pc.blogspot.com/2007/03/inveterate-disappointment.html" REL="nofollow">that follow their stated party principles</A>.<BR/><BR/>That they can't even do that much tells me as much as I need to know.<BR/><BR/>But 'much more' means it would need more than just those four you mention. Last election I mentioned <A HREF="http://pc.blogspot.com/2005/06/question-for-acts-libertarians.html" REL="nofollow">five things they could do</A> that would get my support:<BR/><BR/>"<I>1) <B>Abolish the RMA.</B> Use the 'A' word! Tell people you want to put a stake through its heart.<BR/>2) <B>End the War on Drugs.</B> You tell people you're the party of freedom -- show that you mean it. This would really put the acid on the Green Party authoritarians, and you might even pick up a few of those Green voters sick of their party's ban-everything wowserism. Even just joining with Milton Friedman in saying 'Legalise marijuana' might help you feel better about your libertarian credentials and help you sleep at night.<BR/>3) <B>Privatise, privatise, privatise.</B> Don't fiddle, tinker or bugger about with Government departments and state assets: sell, give away or otherwise dispose of them all. Give back the schools and hospitals to those using and running them, recognise the property rights that already inhere in beaches and foreshore, and let the government lease the Beehive to hold cabinet meetings.<BR/>4) <B>Abolish the Treaty of Waitangi and rescind the 'Treaty Principles.'</B> Replace the Treaty with a constitution protecting individual rights, regardless of colour.<BR/>5) <B>End the DPB</B>. You've got a candidate advocating it, why not start shouting it from the rooftops!</I>"<BR/><BR/>Nothing much more to say, really.Peter Cresswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-13127656288398250372008-11-07T12:37:00.000+13:002008-11-07T12:37:00.000+13:00For me ACT has some flashes of inspiration on welf...For me ACT has some flashes of inspiration on welfare this time, offset by a truly unambitious view on tax, and no express interest in private property rights, or even reviewing criminal laws to remove victimless crimes. <BR/><BR/>All it would take to make me think again about ACT would be four policies:<BR/>- Flat tax in first term<BR/>- Shrink government to 20% of GDP in first term<BR/>- Put property rights first<BR/>- Review legislation to repeal victimless crimes.<BR/><BR/>It has had three of those policies in one form at some point, but never at the same time.Libertyscotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12741049550997300680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-6428186541817786142008-11-07T12:16:00.001+13:002008-11-07T12:16:00.001+13:00But they don't want to shrink government, Daniel, ...But they don't want to shrink government, Daniel, they just want to limit the rate at which it continues to grow.<BR/><BR/>Which in the current climate is a recipe for disaster. And it's <I>this</I> that they talk about as an economic plan.<BR/><BR/>That's just pathetic.<BR/><BR/>Roger did damned well in 1984-88, but when he stepped down the government tax take was even <I>higher</I> than it had been when he took up the reins, and he had been about to introduce the welfare-for-everyone system of a Guaranteed Minimum Family Income, which would be worse even than Labour's Welfare for Working Families. (Read Lindsay Perigo's article '<A HREF="http://www.freeradical.co.nz/content/twilight/index.php" REL="nofollow">In the Revolution's Twilight</A>' to see the 'Revolution' myth exploded.<BR/><BR/>And Douglas' present plans are -- and I say this with genuine sadness -- pathetic.Peter Cresswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-78152309095908642882008-11-07T12:16:00.000+13:002008-11-07T12:16:00.000+13:00Shit, I'd rather have an ACT-Nats coalition than a...Shit, I'd rather have an ACT-Nats coalition than a Labour-Greens-Maori one. Do you truly think those two regimes would be identical?<BR/><BR/>I think a libertarian in Epsom would be absolutely daft to vote to keep Rodney out of parliament in favour of more Purple (red/blue) and Green influence on our lives.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-86711688512913638872008-11-07T11:56:00.000+13:002008-11-07T11:56:00.000+13:00why the derision for Act? I understand they arent ...why the derision for Act? I understand they arent 100% but why not some regard (ie Roger for giving us the freedom to trade with whomever we like and Act generally for a desire to somewhat limit govt)?danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13190411744669049795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-40083353796118354702008-11-07T11:41:00.000+13:002008-11-07T11:41:00.000+13:00Ah, see I made you go through the agony of reading...Ah, see I made you go through the agony of reading through this lot. :)<BR/><BR/>Tizard does work, when she gets ideas they are evil, she pushed the power of general competence for local government for example. The more young women in the Nat party the better though. It needs the inherited right to rule men to be shaken.<BR/><BR/>The main fun will be seeing who loses - which is always a reason to smile.<BR/><BR/>Ravi Musuku deserves the vote in Mt Albert for what he knows is a hopeless task, taking on the evil shrew herself. He may be religious, may be centrist, but he IS better.Libertyscotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12741049550997300680noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-88875022264508437402008-11-07T11:07:00.000+13:002008-11-07T11:07:00.000+13:00Much deserved thanks to Scott and PC for their res...Much deserved thanks to Scott and PC for their respective lists.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10510709497077490801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-53592612187735478922008-11-07T11:01:00.000+13:002008-11-07T11:01:00.000+13:00Great summing up Peter...I left the electorate vot...Great summing up Peter...I left the electorate vote in Mt Albert blank (and never really gave serious thought about ticking anyone) when casting my advance vote as they were all either 'middle class' or foreign or socialists (and 'All Of The Above' in the case of the National candidate).<BR/><BR/>Delighted someone who is a libertarian in the Epsom electorate is talking sense and wants every chap to vote Richard Worth....what a hoot if he wins! ha ha!Elijah Lineberryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12626477239489811223noreply@blogger.com